Background
Farwell was born in Painted Post, New York and attended Elmira Academy before moving to Illinois in 1838.
Farwell was born in Painted Post, New York and attended Elmira Academy before moving to Illinois in 1838.
He first tried his hand at surveying and farming before moving to Chicago in 1844, when he went into banking. From 1853-1861, he served as the Clerk of Cook County. Farwell was "one of the principal builders in business district" in the last quarter of the 19th century.
That he was able to amass a sizeable fortune can be proven by the fact that he owned one of the finest mansions on Chicago"s North Side.
Elected to the United States. House of Representatives four times beginning in 1870, winning his first election to the House by a healthy margin over Chicago"s "Long" John Wentworth (by some 5700 votes). Farwell went on to serve in the House of Representatives in the 42nd, 43rd, 44th and 47th Congresses.
In 1876 the Democrat-controlled Congress accepted John V. Le Moyne"s challenge to Farwell"s election and removed Farwell from office. Farwell declined to run again at the time of the general election later on in 1876.
In 1880, he was elected to another term in Congress (the 47th Congress).
Upon the death of John A. Logan in 1887, Farwell was elected to serve out Logan"s term in the United States. Senate, but refused to run for re-election to a full term. In 1876, at his wife"s urging, Farwell underwrote the construction of College Hall, North Hall and a gymnasium at Lake Forest College. The couple also donated additional land to the college which had been struggling since the end of the Civil War.
Anna later married the composer Reginald de Koven, and became a successful socialite, novelist and amateur historian.
Significantly, in Farwell"s first term as Senator, he supported the introduction of an amendment to the United States. Constitution that would have granted women"s suffrage rights (the right to vote) - simultaneously a landmark achievement of and a setback in the long struggle for voting rights for women that would not be overcome until the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920.
